Chapter 4 - 4
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
"Alinda, are you okay?" Asks Aaron, who stands on the side, clenching his fists.
"Yes I'm alright, you two worry too much about me, everything's fine." The fact that she says it twice doesn't calm me, in fact it makes me even more worried and alert of that one, the lion griffin, Heavenclaw, such an outrageous name, making me curious as to why did he display such behavior and what connection does he have with mother.
Plus the clear aggressive behavior he displayed to me, a kid who just got out of the house for the first time; whatever is bugging him has to do with me, but cannot be myself exactly.
"Sigh, is getting more difficult to deal with Heavenclaw nowadays... Even more after your mate went away with his contractor"
I know mother just defended him, but I'm starting to get angry this father of mine without even knowing him, causing so much trouble for mother, but who can blame me from disliking him if he gives me such a bad impression from the very beginning, leaving mother alone to fend for herself, even more with a newborn child, his child!
However I say nothing after seeing the worried look on my mother's face, and try to cast aside my prejudice for her sake as I puff my chest out, walking up to her and putting my furry paw over hers, catching her attention as she looks down at me while I keep a steady strong gaze at her.
Worry not mother, I'm here to help you out, I won't let you be lonely, is the least I can do for now.
She looks down at my steady strong gaze as I narrow my eyes and nod, only that, with this small fluffy body of a kitty owl griffin, it has a rather different effect from what I expected.
"Oww, my son is so cute and reliable, don't worry, moma is alright hm...?"
C-cute? My aloof cool presence has been carried out as adorable? I was trying to act cool you know!
...I think I should stop trying for now and resign to my fate in this small c-cute body until I'm grown enough to not lose face like this, sigh.
"Come now, let me show you around my cute son." Ok, now she is doing on purpose! I think as she resumes our walk down the stone path, not after giving me a peck and flustering my small feathery fur.
This mother of mine! She does not know her strength, I almost fall down every time she does that!
Huffing and puffing I speed up to catch up with her while using my small chubby legs, weirded out by these four paws, not used to such walk.
And yet... why do I feel this weird about it?
I've always been four-legged, this fact should not come out as odd... A confused emotion seems to cross me like an arrow, so fast yet so precise in my core that makes me stagger, a nostalgic, sad emotion of having lost something important, something dear to me which makes me question this body of mine.
It was quick, and yet hit deep, leaving as fast as it came to simply stun me into confusion.
"What's wrong dear?"
I look up only to realize that I had stopped walking, but a shake of my head clears my mind of such strange sensations as I trot forward to stand beside my mother.
We walk in silence for a while, finally reaching the end of the stairs only to walk over grass and roots, stopping once we reach a lake.
And I'm overwhelmed with the landscape.
It is as if the colors jump out from where they are, the greenery has a vivid green color, the blue contrasting and yet reflecting all there is above, and the many, many flowers that grow along the side of the river, not even letting the stones uncovered as the most odd and unique types of flowers seem to be growing here.
It is like a rainbow, but instead of unreachable above our heads this one stretches out right in front of me, from bright yellow small flowers trying to imitate the sun, to even fluffy cotton white, red and pink appearing here and there among the carpet of colorful petals.
And the sounds and smells too, the flow of water, the beating of wings from the small insects, a dragon-fly stopping midair nearby to show its green colorful body.
And yet with all these wonders surrounding me I cannot stop myself from focusing on that one insect, feeling my eyes zoom in on it, blurring the surroundings to watch every move of his, and before I know it I react when it flies to the side and jump in persuade.
Of course against such small quick creature I barely reach where it stood before it flies to the side, but still I try, my fluffy paws stretching out in front of me, only grasping air, my long tail moving and keeping my balance as I idle in such fruitless little hunting game.
Still, it is quite fun, making me roll around in soft grass and pitter-patter some of the flowers too since my gaze is mostly up towards my target.
"Hey, will you stop destroying the flowers? This lady worked hard on these you know!" I hear out of nowhere, a high pitched yet small voice coming from somewhere, and after looking over to my mother and seeing her merely smiling, laying down unpreoccupied over a rock while watching me play, I feel more secure to tail the source of the sound.
"... Are you talking to me?" I trying asking with my chirps.
"Of course I'm, who else is messing up with this lady's garden?" She says again from somewhere around the trees, and to help me pin point from where I try to keep her talking, even more after realizing she can understand me even with only chirps.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to. How can you understand me?" I ask.
"Humph, of course I can, who do you think I am? Also no need to chirp this loud, you are hurting this lady's ears."
"Sorry." I chirp back, but her next humph and a quick sniff makes me know where she is, and as I hear flapping of small wings again I wiggle my butt in the air and jump straight for it among the bushes, finally grasping something under my furry paws.
"Hey! Quit it! Have you no manners? You are crushing this lady! Out with it, out!"
I'm apologizing by instinct once more once I open up my paws to finally see the source of such voice, and I'm shocked to see the petite figure that carries such strong command voice as she starts cleaning her clothes up once free of my attack.
"What are you staring at? Have you never seen such beautiful lady before?." She says, but that was not the case.
It is just my first time seeing a fairy that's all.